Doing the Fat Math

By:   Reader's Digest

Nutrition labels list total fat content, but that number may not tell you everything

For instance, you should take into account:

Percentage of calories from fat. Most labels don’t tell you this number. To figure it out, divide the fat calories per serving by the total calories per serving and multiply by 100. So a food that contains 90 calories per serving and has 30 calories from fat would get 33 percent of its  alories from fat. A food that gets less than 30 percent of calories from fat is considered a relatively low-fat food; food that gets less than 20 percent of its calories from fat is considered a low-fat food.

Fat you add. Combination foods and mixes, like Hamburger Helper, often have two sets of numbers on the label--one “as packaged” and one “as prepared.” If the “as packaged” numbers are good and you can prepare it with low-fat or nonfat ingredients, the product is a good choice.

Servings per container. Read these carefully; often you may assume a package contains only one serving, when in fact it contains two--and therefore double the fat on the label.